A Cancer Care Crisis

An older population means more cancer, but the number of oncology professionals is dwindling.

When the nation’s top medical research institute recently announced a growing crisis in cancer care, it cited workforce challenges as a major contributor. The Institute of Medicine warned in a 2013 study, “Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis,” that the number of clinicians and other professionals specializing in oncology “may soon be too small to care for the growing population of individuals diagnosed with cancer.”

“Workforce shortages among many of the professionals involved in providing care to cancer patients are growing,” it added, “and training programs lack the ability to rapidly expand.”